Best Actor

Kendra Lee Oberhauser

Whether she's playing a petulant tomboy in a Jon Tracy remake of Antigone, an alpha wife in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests, or a malevolent financial management vixen in Central Works' Reduction in Force, Berkeley actress Kendra Lee Oberhauser inhabits all of her characters with verve. She's a fine-featured blond who can easily morph into a femme fatale, whether or not you abet her with a weapon or a pair of stiletto heels. And she'll handle just about any role: Olivia in Twelfth Night; Mina Murray in Dracula; the evil boss in a Wall Street farce; Poppy Norton-Taylor in Noises Off; the plucky servant Louka in Arms and the Man. This spring Oberhauser starred in a Sleepwalkers Theatre production of Adam Chaznit's Down to This, a pulpy revenge story with two different endings. She's one of the few local actresses who consistently land big parts, and has evidently formed strong relationships with many local companies. For someone operating in a cutthroat and ever-shrinking medium, that's no small feat.